James Hird is suing the football club's insurer, Chubb Insurance, after they declined to pay the legal costs of his failed bid to sue the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority in the federal court in 2014, and the cost of a subsequent appeal that Hird lost in 2015.

His barrister, Geoff McArthur QC, says the coach incurred his legal bills - $659,520 according to an amended statement of claim - as an officer of Essendon football club, which means his costs are covered by the club's insurance policy.

"The policy provides cover for costs incurred for defending, investigating, settling or appealing a formal investigation," Mr McArthur said in his opening statement.

"Mr Hird is seeking reimbursement for the legal expenses that occurred."

The insurer is refusing to pay because they view Hird's trial and appeal as "litigational costs" - which the contract does not cover - but this interpretation is incorrect, Mr McArthur says.

An unknown third party has paid the court costs that James Hird owed to ASADA after his failed cases over the past two years.

The revelation came on the opening day of a Supreme Court hearing in which Hird is attempting to force Essendon's insurer Chubb Insurance to help pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs.

Amended statements of claim presented to the court on Tuesday show claims for ASADA's costs have been struck out.

With ASADA's costs reportedly totalling about $750,000, their absence more than halves the overall amount Hird is seeking from the insurer to almost $700,000.

Under cross examination, Chubb lawyer James Peters QC put to Hird that ASADA's costs had now been paid by "somebody else", a fact that Hird confirmed.

Details of who stumped up the cash were not revealed in court.

The former Essendon coach is suing Chubb after it declined to pay the legal costs of his failed case against the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority in the Federal Court in 2014, and the cost of a subsequent appeal that Hird lost in 2015.

Hird told the court on Tuesday he decided to appeal against the Federal Court dismissal for a number of legal and personal reasons.

"One of the reasons was my reputation," he told a Victorian Supreme Court civil trial.

"Another was I wouldn't have a team to coach if 34 players weren't allowed to play."

James Hird says he accepts a level of responsibility over the supplements saga that has rocked the Bombers.

"It is not just 2016 that it has wiped off (for the players) and potentially beyond but it has been 2013, '14 and '15 where they weren't able to get the opportunity to play the football to their ability," Hird said in an ABC News 24 interview.

"I have a level of responsibility in that. I should have known more. I should have done more when the opportunity came.

"I feel extremely guilty for that and bad for that. I can only apologise for that. I made decisions in real time that in hindsight, I think were wrong."

Former Essendon coach James Hird has blamed the people who ran the club's 2012 supplements program for the disaster that has resulted.

In an article in the Herald Sun, Hird wrote that Dean Robinson and Stephen Dank failed to follow strict protocols for the supplements program he issued after club doctor Bruce Reid raised concerns about the injections players were receiving.

He says the pair, who were appointed for the 2012 season and developed the supplements program, were told they could only use supplements approved by Dr Reid.

Hird said the club initially sought to hire someone from the English Premier League to run the program but because that person couldn't join Essendon before May 2012, fitness coach Robinson and sports scientist Dank were appointed.

"Had we secured this preferred applicant then the experience of the Essendon Football Club and 34 young men would have been very different," he said.

"Instead the sliding door we walked through introduced Essendon to the worlds of Dean Robinson and, at Robinson's suggestion, Stephen Dank."

Essendon's worst fears have been realised with the Court of Arbitration for Sport finding 34 past and present players guilty of taking banned substance Thymosin Beta-4 and suspending them for the entire 2016 season.

Twelve players still on the Bombers' list and five now at other AFL clubs who took part in Essendon's 2012 supplements program have been hit with two-year bans beginning on March 31 last year.

However, most of the suspensions will come to an end on November 13 this year, taking into account provisional suspensions already served.

The guilty decision impacts four other AFL clubs with former Essendon players on their lists, with Jake Carlisle (St Kilda), Stewart Crameri (Western Bulldogs), Jake Melksham (Melbourne), Angus Monfries and Patrick Ryder (Port Adelaide) to be sidelined for the season.

Former Essendon players Mark McVeigh and Brent Prismall are set to be suspended from their respective roles at Greater Western Sydney and the Western Bulldogs until November 13 as support staff are banned from any WADA-complaint sports under the sanctions.

McVeigh is an assistant coach at the Giants, while Prismall is a player wellbeing and welfare manager with the Bulldogs.

Essendon champion and former club coach James Hird slammed the guilty verdict and suspensions.

"I am shocked by this decision," Hird said in a statement.

"I firmly believe the players do not deserve this finding.

"They do not deserve to face a twelve-month suspension from the sport. This is a miscarriage of justice for 34 young men."

Essendon coach James Hird has resigned, adding a dramatic full stop to a tumultuous period for the club.

The announcement comes just three days after the Bombers' 112-point thrashing at the hands of Adelaide at Etihad Stadium and after years under the shadow of the ASADA and WADA investigations into the club's 2012 supplements program.

Flanked by Bombers players, an emotional Hird told a media conference at Essendon headquarters on Tuesday he decided on Monday night to quit as coach.

"I'm not disappointed [that] the club's let me down," Hird said.

"The reason for this decision is to enable the players and the supporters some space to perform and be a normal football club again.

"I didn't know it would come to this [but] I felt that the club needed space. There was a question mark there and that was enough to say, let's try something else.

"These players have to be allowed to play. It's not just about me resigning or moving on, the industry has to let them play and give them some space.

"It's not their fault. I think the industry should give them a break.

"My hesitation in leaving this club at this time is because I believe the players still need strong guidance and care, which I hope to continue to provide from a distance."

"I certainly don't love the game like I used to," Hird continued.

"I think the whole three years has been very tough on my family. It's put a lot of strain on everyone ... a lot of stress on a lot of parts of my family life and I think it will just been good for my family to get some space away from the media spotlight."

James Hird says he wants to coach Essendon into next season, despite another thrashing throwing more doubt on the club great's future in the role.

Essendon's disastrous season hit a new low point when Adelaide cruised to a 112-point belting of the Bombers at Etihad Stadium.

It followed the Bombers' 110-point defeat to St Kilda in round 14 and their 87-point loss to the Western Bulldogs two weeks ago, and saw them concede 11 last-quarter goals as the Crows ran away with the win.

"I think I can do the job, but our performance this year has been quite poor," he said after the Crows' loss.

"And anytime you win five games for the year and [have] three or four big blowouts, justifiably criticism will come and your job will get questioned.

"The club has to look at what the right thing to do is. I think I can do it, but that doesn't mean that everyone else does."

Essendon coach James Hird has been left "flabbergasted" by Mark Thompson's claim the Bombers are "drowning" in the wake of the ongoing anti-doping saga surrounding the club.

Thompson told radio station 3AW on Saturday he believed the club was "just treading water, going backwards - it's drowning".

"You look at the playing group, which is the most important, most significant group of people in the brand of Essendon - they're just nowhere, they're lost," Thompson said.

"We've damaged them mentally."

After Essendon's 32-point loss to Greater Western Sydney on Sunday  the club's fourth straight defeat  he was asked if he was disappointed by the continuing negative commentary from people outside the club.

"I think everyone was a bit flabbergasted by that," Hird said in response.

"I think the players were genuinely flabbergasted by those comments."

Pressed further, Hird was asked if he disagreed with Thompson's comments.

"I am not going to get in a slanging match with Mark Thompson," he said.

"Mark has been an Essendon premiership player, a terrific person at Essendon, he has done some good things here but I really don't want to. That's not in anyone's best interests, I don't think."

The AFL will not pursue James Hird for breaching a non-disparagement agreement, despite his comments about some 'ordinary individuals' within the football industry.

Hird said in a radio interview last Sunday: "Certainly there's some people within the AFL industry I've got no time for, I think are ordinary individuals and don't speak the truth and have agendas and drive them really hard for their own agendas."

But AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said he was 'not worried in the slightest' about Hird's comments.

"I'm not going to buy into it. We need Essendon to be strong and playing well and winning games," McLachlan told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

"Our focus is making sure that all those players are OK through this process, that's our focus."

James Hird has been hospitalised with severe concussion after falling from his bike in wet and slippery conditions on Monday night.

Cycling home from the club's Tullamarine base to his Toorak home, the Bombers coach fell near the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street in South Yarra.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesman confirmed to AFL.com.au a call was received at about 5.15pm.

The 42-year-old was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to the Alfred Hospital in a stable condition.

Hird's wife Tania told reporters on Tuesday morning it remained unclear whether her husband would coach his side against North Melbourne on Friday night.

"They've kept him in for observation and some testing this morning," she said.

"I don't really know too much to be honest, but there's no fractures which is fantastic and by the time we left last night, he was able to talk. He was dopey, very dopey, and obviously very sore, but he was able to talk and I think it'll all be fine."

Club doctor Bruce Reid said Hird would remain in hospital under observation on Monday night.

"James was very fortunate he was wearing a helmet which has braced his fall," Reid said.

"He has suffered severe concussion however X-rays have cleared him of any fractures.

"James will remain in hospital for ongoing observation and following a review we hope he will be discharged soon."

"I'm not worried about the pressure that will come on me because it can't be much more than it's been previously. I'm just disappointed for our supporters and players."

Essendon midfielder Dyson Heppell said after the game that the Essendon players were still very much behind Hird.

"We love Hirdy," Heppell said.

"We love having Hirdy around; we have so much respect for the man. Of course we're playing for the coach. This is about the player. We're all in this together once again. We need to get through this period."

Sam Mitchell is seen provoking Essendon players during the third quarter of the Hawks' 38-point victory over the Bombers.

As Mitchell was heading to the centre, he motioned as if he was injecting himself in his upper arm, directing his gesture at a group of Essendon players including Michael Hibberd and Cale Hooker in a blatant taunt at the club's ongoing anti-doping case.

Mitchell apologised after the match in a Fox Footy interview.

"It was probably inappropriate, it's not in good taste, it's not something you want to see I shouldn't have done it," Mitchell said.

"If I could have my time again I wouldn't have done it."

Essendon coach James Hird told reporters after the match he had not seen footage of the incident but had heard about it, saying it could be a sign that people still believed media "propaganda" surrounding the club's controversial 2011-12 supplements program.

"I think if he's apologised for it then we'll let it go, but if it's something that's still out there I think it's naive and idiotic really for someone to do that, if he has done it," Hird said.

"But if he's apologised then I think we let it go. It's disappointing for our playing group that that's still happening but perhaps the propaganda that's been around about what's happened at our club maybe people have believed it."

James Hird has defended his decision to take an overseas break during Essendon's bye round last week, saying he doesn't understand what the fuss is about.

Hird flew to Europe on approved leave following the Bombers' round-11 loss to West Coast and spent the week abroad to finish his business administration course at the world-renowned INSEAD business school.

"It was all approved leave, just some personal development overseas," Hird said.

"(I missed) one training session on Saturday, I'm not sure what the big deal is."

James Hird's legal battle is over, with the defiant Essendon coach deciding against a High Court appeal to allow the club to "move on and play football".

"It's been very disappointing what's happened the last two years and the way our football club has been treated and we hope we get the chance to get on and do what we do best and that's play football," Hird said.

"This decision is based in trying to give us the best chance in 2015 of winning as many games of football as we can.

"Fundamentally we still believe our players weren't treated the way they should have been treated with confidentiality and certain aspects that the average Australian is given.

"Ultimately we hope the players are cleared through the Tribunal process, which is about to be handed down very shortly."

James Hird has left the door ajar for an appeal to the High Court over his failed bid to have the ASADA doping case against 35 present and former Bombers players ruled unlawful.

Hird returned to Australia this week from New York, and admitted his unsuccessful Federal Court appeal against Justice John Middleton's finding that the joint ASADA-AFL investigation into Essendon's 2012 supplements program was lawful had been extremely costly.

On the eve of the Victorian state election, Opposition leader Daniel Andrews reveals his view that Essendon coach James Hird should be sacked if players are banned over the discredited 2012 supplements regime.

The Victorian Labor leader, a paid up Essendon member, believes Hird's position would become untenable.

Asked how he would vote if such circumstances came to pass, Andrews said he would go against Hird.

Essendon chairman Paul Little says club members will help decide coach James Hird's future if Bombers players are found guilty of doping.

With the long-running supplements scandal drawing to an end, Little said the members would have a say on the fate of the club's leadership if the players lost their case.

"I think myself, along with the board and those other key components, and coaching maybe one of those  in fact it would be  I think the membership would need to decide how they wanted the club to move forward,'' Little told the Herald Sun.

"And some pretty tough decisions would need to be made to be part of that."

Hird's tenure as head coach of Essendon will come into question after his determination to continue legal action over the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority's inquiry into Essendon's 2012 supplements program.

Essendon has decided to stick with coach James Hird until it gains "further clarity" on his Federal Court appeal.

"The board believes it would be potentially reckless to make any decisions of significance until there is further clarity on these crucial matters," Essendon chairman Paul Little said in a statement.

"The board recognises the rights of James to pursue his appeal of the recent Federal Court decision.

"James remains senior coach of the Essendon Football Club and will work closely with other members of the football department during this particularly important trade and planning period in preparation for the 2015 season."

Lawyers for James Hird are preparing to lodge paperwork for a Federal Court appeal on Thursday morning as the coach breaks ranks with his club over the supplements scandal.

Essendon has decided it won't appeal Justice John Middleton's emphatic judgement in favour of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and its investigation into the club's 2012 supplements regime.

It's understood Essendon's board will wait for Hird's legal team to formally lodge paperwork, before assessing the state of play.

With Hird heading down his own path, the club could be left with no choice but to stand its coach down despite the fact that he is contracted for two more seasons.

While James Hird was a notable absentee from Essendon's best and fairest count on Wednesday night, Mark Thompson has used the occasion to all-but state he wants to stay on as senior coach.

"I loved coaching the boys, they were really receptive, we got improvement in wins and losses and it was everything coaching is. It's a good job in some parts and that part is fantastic," Thompson said.

"The thing I'm really struggling with right now is taking a step back. That's where it's all coming from.

"The plan was to leave after this year. I don't really want to because I love this footy club and I love the players and I want them to do really well."

Essendon chairman Paul Little and suspended coach James Hird deny a rift exists over the club's handling of the supplements scandal.

Hird has testified that he disagreed with repeated public statements from Little and his predecessor David Evans about the club's decision to report its 2012 supplements program to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the League, but had agreed to toe the Bombers' party line.

But at the conclusion of the Federal Court hearing on Wednesday, Hird said he still enjoyed a strong relationship with the club hierarchy.

"There's been a lot of silly things said in the paper, but I fully support Paul and his board and they've been terrific of late," Hird told reporters.

James Hird will not have any coaching role in 2014 after agreeing that his return to Essendon should not be a distraction.

Hird, whose 12-month suspension ends on August 25, will not take on any active coaching duties this year  on match day or during the week  and instead use the time to prepare for his return as the senior coach in 2015.

The club's decision was announced on Friday after a meeting between Hird, Essendon chairman Paul Little, newly appointed chief executive Xavier Campbell, football performance manager Neil Craig and stand-in coach Mark Thompson.

"We have all agreed that when James is eligible to return to the club on August 25, James' focus will be entirely on the 2015 season  he will not be in the coaching box or have an active coaching role at training," Little said in a statement.

James Hird has alleged ASADA breached its confidentiality obligations by providing draft copies of its interim report to the AFL before it was formally lodged on August 2 last year.

He also alleges ASADA's joint investigation with the AFL effectively gave the anti-doping body the power to compel Essendon players and officials to answer questions about the 2012 supplements program - a power Hird alleges ASADA does not possess under its legislation.

Hird has submitted a 19-page statement of claim in the Federal Court ahead of Wednesday's second directions hearing, revealing new details of his legal challenge against ASADA.

Suspended Essendon coach James Hird has joined his club in launching legal action against the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

Essendon chairman Paul Little confirmed on Friday afternoon that the club had filed an application in the Federal Court against ASADA, alleging its joint investigation with the AFL into the club is unlawful and in breach of the ASADA act.

The Bombers' application aims to rule the case against the club "null and void".

And it emerged later on Friday evening that Hird, who is currently serving a 12-month AFL suspension for bringing the game into disrepute, has also launched Federal Court action against ASADA.

"This is more about speaking to James and letting him give us his ideas and thoughts behind what has happened. At this point in time that hasn't happened so we just need to wait," Essendon chairman Paul Little said.

"It's been a particularly busy day today with unscheduled board meetings. I think with James there'll be time to speak with James and that's probably next week when the dust settles on the events of tonight."

Tania Hird, wife of suspended Essendon coach James Hird, revives the explosive allegation that AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou tipped off the club about the club's supplements scandal.

Hird, who is a lawyer, claims she was listening on a speaker phone when her husband spoke to Evans on July 25.

"I was taking notes - I take a lot of notes," she told the ABC's 7.30.

"David admitted that he said to James 'go into ASADA and tell the whole truth, but don't say what Andrew Demetriou told us'.

"It has been referred to as the tip-off.

"James did say in return 'if I'm not asked about it, I won't offer it up, but if I'm asked about it, like anything I'm asked about, I will answer it honestly and truthfully and to the best of my knowledge'."

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou personally gives the green light to a James Hird interview as part of an Essendon in-house produced television show.

"They said, would it be OK to do that interview, and I advised Paul Little, and then, of course, our people advised the chief operating officer, that there was no issue about breaching the agreement," Demetriou said.

"He conducted a pretty straight up and down interview that appeared on The Hangar last night and we saw no issue with it."

Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson wants reform to the League's coaching ranks, including mandatory licences, to ensure there is no repeat of the Essendon supplements scandal.

Clarkson believes licences to coach should be compulsory and that by 2020, every senior coach should have coached his own team for at least two years.

"We need to ensure [the supplements scandal] never happens in our game again. It's too easy to sweep it under the carpet and hope it's never going to happen again," Clarkson told Fairfax Media.

"Next time it could be illicit drugs or young girls in night clubs. It comes down to having the right systems and protocols in place.

"'Hirdy' (Essendon coach James Hird) needs accreditation to coach under-nines but not an AFL footy team. It really concerns me that the game doesn't protect itself in the way, say, the teaching industry does."

Filling in for James Hird as interim coach of the Bombers, Mark Thompson says it will be business as usual for Essendon.

"We're going to continue to work the players the best thing about this club is that the young boys are fantastic young people," Thompson said.

"We haven't done everything right but there has been a lot of things we have done right, and we're just going to continue to build and to be better and better and better until we become a very consistently good team."

The AFL concedes that James Hird can be paid in advance by Essendon in 2013 for his work in 2014.

"To settle this impasse, the Essendon Football Club has resolved that it will pay James Hird in advance to cover the 2014 year consistent with Hird's employment contract obligations," Essendon chairman Paul Little said.

"This also meets the implied terms of the Deed of Settlement. The implied terms of the AFL sanction indicate that James Hird cannot be paid for a 12 month period therefore he will not be paid during the calendar period January 1  December 31, 2014."

Following a revelation from James Hird's wife that the AFL is aware that he is being paid by Essendon, the League reacts by suspending its regular payments to the Bombers until the club clarifies its position.

Hird's lawyer, Julian Burnside QC, however, insists that the there is nothing in writing that states Hird cannot be paid.

"The agreement with the AFL was documented," Burnside said.

"There's an agreement between the AFL and Essendon, there's an agreement between the AFL and Hird.

"And you would think that if the AFL insist that Hird not receive pay during the time he was suspended that it would be in the agreement, and it is not."

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou writes a letter to clubs denying media reports that a deal was reached with Essendon coach James Hird over penalties related to the Bombers' supplements saga.

"Some of the coverage by News Limited today appears to assert the AFL has paid or is paying James Hird, which is completely false," Demetriou said in his letter.

"The various sanctions were applied a matter of days after a special meeting of AFL Club Presidents/Chairmen on August 22, 2013 which, among other things, urged the AFL Commission to resolve the matters relating to Essendon FC within the AFL industry and as soon as possible."

The AFL hands James Hird a 12-month ban from coaching. This, however, does not prevent Essendon from offering Hird what is believed to be a two-year contract beyond 2014, when his ban expires on August 25.

"James is very keen to continue his coaching with Essendon and the Essendon Football Club is very keen to have James Hird continue," Essendon chairman Paul Little said.

James Hird is a no-show at a scheduled press conference, leaving assistant coach Simon Goodwin to answer media question prior to the upcoming game between Essendon and Carlton.

"I think we all understand that there's a lot going on away from just football," Goodwin said when asked about Hird's absence.

"There's a lot of meetings going on ... I think that what we all need to do as staff is really step up and take some of that load away from James and actually help in this situation, and help the club actually move forward. It's territory that we haven't been in before."

The AFL makes public a letter by Essendon club doctor Bruce Reid to Bombers coach James Hird and former Essendon general manager of football operations Paul Hamilton.

In the letter, Reid articulates several concerns he has with the Bombers' supplements program especially the injection of AOD/9604 and calf's blood.

"I am very frustrated by this and now feel I am letting the club down by not automatically approving of these things. I need to collect my thoughts as these drugs have been given without my knowledge," Reid wrote in his letter.

"I am sure Steve Danks believes that what we are doing is totally ethical and legal, however, one wonders whether if you take a long stance and look at this from a distance, whether you would want your children being injected with a derivative hormone that is not free to the community and whether calf's blood, that has been used for many years and is still doubted by most doctors, is worth pursuing."

James Hird's legal team lodges a 9-page writ with the Victorian Supreme Court.

"We will be going to the Supreme Court tomorrow lodging a statement of claim outlining our concerns about the manner in which the AFL has conducted itself over the course of the past several months," Hird's spokesman Ian Hanke said.

Essendon coach James Hird along with club doctor Bruce Reid, Bombers football manager Danny Corcoran and assistant coach Mark Thompson are charged with bringing the game into disrepute following the release of an interim report by ASADA into the Bombers' drug scandal.

"I'm pretty shattered really - shattered to be charged for bringing the game into disrepute that I love and cherish and respect so much," Hird said.

"It's terribly disappointing I've been charged for that, for the club and all of us."

Essendon coach James Hird remains defiant as the club waits to see if it is charged by the AFL over the ongoing drugs saga.

"I think we all find it hard to believe that charges can be laid on individuals or the club when none of our players have shown to take performance enhancing drugs, none of our players have been shown that they've been harmed by anything that's been given and that we're dealing with an interim report," Hird told Channel Seven.

"The report's not finalised so we're all probably sitting back staggered and shocked that any charges could possibly be laid on those points."

Tuesday, 6 August 2013

Brownlow medallist Mark Ricciuto alleges on Adelaide radio that James Hird has been asked to stand down as Essendon coach.

"If James Hird does not resign by Thursday someone else might make the decision for him," Ricciuto said on Adelaide's TripleM.

Hird hits back at those claims, labelling them "baseless rumours and speculation".

"I'm not shocked by anything in this process, it all seems to be a lot of rumour and innuendo that has no fact to it," Hird said.

Thursday, 1 August 2013

James Hird denies a claim by ex-Essendon fitness coach Dean Robinson that his house was raided by Australian Federal Police during an investigation that led to the conviction of drug trafficker Shane Charter.

Hird also denied Robinson's claim that he had spoken to a New York doctor about a testosterone cream that was undetectable.

Ex-Essendon fitness coach Dean Robinson reveals his disdain for Bombers coach James Hird in a revealing interview with Channel 7.

"He's a great player. Take none of that away from him. But at the end of the day, what I observed, what I saw, his actions, the way he has handled himself  I've got no respect for the guy anymore," Robinson said.

Essendon coach James Hird expresses disappointment and hurt over a recent article by Caroline Wilson reporting that Hird was the architect behind the Bombers' controversial supplements program, which is under investigation by ASADA and the AFL.

"It's very hard when you keep looking at the hurtful and damaging nature of those comments. It's hard when you can't respond, either. It's hard when you want to talk about the facts, when you want to explain to people what has happened here [and] try and find out the truth. But the club is committed to a process," Hird said.

"I would say to people out there... that if you are sitting in judgment and you've made your judgment, please wait until the facts are on the table because the facts will come out very soon.

"And to my peers, to the players of other clubs, to the people at other clubs, if you can reserve your judgment until all facts are on the table, and we get a chance to see the report [and] put our version of events across, that would be much appreciated."

Essendon reacts angrily to reports by Fairfax media that Bombers coach James Hird was warned by the AFL against introducing a peptides program for his players.

"Until the ASADA investigation is completed the full context of this particular meeting should not be the subject of innuendo," a statement from the club said.

"Representatives from the club have requested all parties to the investigation to guarantee confidentiality and to afford natural justice.

"Breaching this confidentiality directly undermines the trust in the process and selective disclosure of information relating to the investigation appears to be deliberately threatening the integrity of this process.

"For the reputation and integrity of senior coach James Hird to be questioned without the right to due process, is extremely disturbing and inappropriate in the circumstances."

ABC's 7.30 program reveal text messages allegedly sent between James Hird and sports scientist Stephen Dank regarding the use of intravenous, or "IV", treatments.

On March 9, they reportedly had the following exchange:Hird: "Good work today mate, the boys were up and about, we have a lot to work with.Dank: "IVs start next week and Thymosin with Uniquinon. We will start to see some real effects.

Then between March 27-28:Dank: "That is the IV list that will be completed by Wednesday night.Hird: "Good work mate, (name deleted) rang me tonight and said how good he felt after he saw you."

On April 3, Dank detailed more substances:"We have cerebrolysin, we will re-oxygenate and re-circulate the brain. We will also be getting Solcoseryl."

Stephen Dank, the sports scientist that ran the Bombers' supplement program in 2012, has told Fairfax Media he injected Hird with the drug hexarelin, which was banned for players in 2004, and players were given an extract from pig's brains.

AFL chief Andrew Demetriou says these allegations do not sit well with him.

"James Hird is one of the finest players to have ever played the game," he told reporters in Sydney.

"He's one of the finest contributors to the Essendon Football Club in its long and proud history and I'm sure he at the moment is feeling very, very disturbed by these allegations, as he suggested in his statement.

"He, like any individual, is entitled to have his say and put his case forward and we should, as a minimum, afford him that respect.

"I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say to the ASADA investigators, which obviously will be conveyed back to the AFL.

"Notwithstanding that, it doesn't matter who you are in this game, the expectation of our supporters is that they watch sport in its purest form and that no person or no action that seeks to gain advantage by improper means will be tolerated in this code."

Fresh allegations of drug abuse at Essendon emerge, including allegations that Bombers coach James Hird had injected a WADA-blacklisted drug.

"I want to repeat that these allegations are very serious, and we want the ASADA investigation and its outcomes to be done as quickly as possible to assist us in making decisions," Essendon chairman David Evans said.

"On behalf of the board I want to make it clear that if any person at our club has failed in their duty of care to the players then we will make the appropriate decisions on behalf of the Essendon Football Club."

Stephen Dank says Essendon's players, coaches and management, including head coach James Hird, were all aware of controversial supplements used by players.

"There was a collective involvement, it wasn't just Stephen Dank, there was certainly input from other people into structuring the program," he said.

"Dean Robinson, James Hird, club doctor Bruce Reid, they were the main people involved in the knowledge of the program."

Thursday, 9 June 2011

Nathan Buckley, James Hird, Mark Ricciuto and Michael Voss are inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.

Friday, 21 January 2011

James Hird says his perceived 'nice guy' image will not stand in the way of his ability to make tough calls as coach of the Bombers.

"I think you do (need a harder edge). You are managing a lot of very driven people, whether they be coaches or whether they be players," Hird said.

"You need to be very clear about what the messages are and you need to make sure you listen but give a clear message on how you want things to be done. I would say a harder edge is probably a very good description."

Essendon coach James Hird says Mark Thompson has not been disloyal to Geelong in returning to Windy Hill, but he understands why Geelong is aggrieved.

"They've got every right to be disappointed he's left but I don't think they've got the right to feel he hasn't done the right thing by them, because for 11 years he gave his heart and soul to the club and did a great job in winning two premierships for them," Hird said on SEN radio.

Hird also describes the manner in which Thompson decided to join Essendon's coaching ranks as unique.

"We were running a drill, the players were running back and forward and there's Bomber standing in the middle of the oval," Hird said.

Essendon coaching candidate Mark Williams says not too many senior coaches have succeeded without previous experience after speculation mounts that the Bombers are set to name James Hird as their head coach ahead of him.

"There's not many that have succeeded that particular way," Williams said.

"Most people have gone the route of either coaching their own side [at a lower level] or have been assistant coaches for a long time. Leigh Matthews was an assistant coach while I was at Collingwood so he came through the ranks as well."

Retiring umpire Scott McLaren speaks about his clash with James Hird in 2004 when the Bomber champion publicly criticised him on television.

"I see James at the footy, when he's commentating, and we say hello and there's certainly no issue there," McLaren said.

"I don't think James realised the impact of what he was saying. It affects grassroots footy because people think it gives them the right to go out and abuse umpires in suburban and country leagues and that's not what we're about."

Bomber champion James Hird admits he has a desire to coach Essendon, but not at the expense of Matthew Knights.

"There's something in me, deep in my heart, that says at some point I want to coach Essendon," Hird told the Herald Sun.

"If I'm not good enough or fail, so be it. But I am also a supporter of Matthew Knights."

Tuesday, 1 September 2009

Essendon champion James Hird says that Bombers captain Matthew Lloyd should play again in 2010.

"Matthew Lloyd should play on at Essendon next year and the Bombers should be doing everything they can to convince him to do so," Hird wrote in his column for the Herald Sun.

"Those that say his best football is past him are right, but those that say he should retire are way off the mark."

Hird also defends Lloyd against accusations of being a sniper made by Hawk Campbell Brown.

"Every game I played in, except the past couple of years, our goal was to physically intimidate the Hawks, but on the other hand Essendon has every right to complain about the way Hawthorn has beaten up the Bombers in the past three years," Hird wrote.

"Calling people snipers and protesting through the media is off the mark and if Campbell Brown had an issue he should have dealt with it in the remaining 50 minutes of the game or the next time the two clubs played."

Tuesday, 4 August 2009

James Hird declares he has no interest in coaching despite receiving offers from Port Adelaide to become an assistant coach.

"As much as I love footy and its strategies, I am not prepared for the 24-hour-a-day lifestyle that is AFL coaching," Hird wrote in an article for the Herald Sun.

"I am not scared or worried that I might not be up to it, it is just that at the moment it is not my burning ambition."

Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Essendon great James Hird has doused talk of a rift with Dons skipper Matthew Lloyd.

"I saw a lot of things creep in over time in the early 2000s, where we probably just dropped the baton a bit," Lloyd was quoted as saying in the Herald Sun.

"You want guys to walk in and know immediately how to behave, carry yourself and prepare for footy."

Hird did not believe there were any pressing issues during his last years at the club.

"This is a club that finished in the finals seven of the eight years when I was captain, did not have one incident in the paper in that whole time, and enjoyed their wins and celebrations, so I'm not sure what he is referring to," Hird said.